Smart Home: Ways to Automate Your House

The last few years have seen massive strides made in technology, and these have had a knock-on effect on all sorts of areas of life. And one of these is inside the home. Tech could help to make your home life better in a wide range of different ways, and in this blog post, we will take a closer look at what a few of these are. Home automation ranges from the very straightforward to the complex, and everything depends on how far you would like to go. And with new developments and advances being made all the time in automation, who knows what the home of the future will look like? So, let’s look at some of the actions which you can take today.

Smart Lighting

Lights which turn on and off with the touch of a switch? That’s so old fashioned! Smart lighting systems can offer a number of different advantages. You could install them with on/off timers to come on five minutes before you get home. Or perhaps you could install some with motion sensors. If you want to be at the cutting edge of technology, you could install some WiFi enabled light sensors that you can control via your smartphone.

Programmable Thermostat

If you find that your monthly energy bill is spiralling out of control, the fact that you don’t have a programmable thermostat could be a big part of the problem. Easy enough to install, they will give you maximum control in heating your home only when you need to. The most sophisticated allow you to control your heating remotely so that you are not heating your home unnecessarily. Even if you are not massively into tech-based home improvement solutions, this is certainly one which is worth making an exception for.

Automate Appliances and Devices

There are all sorts of appliances and devices which can be automated these days, ranging from classics like garage door openers to everyday appliances like your kettle, toaster etc. Be warned; once you start going down this path, it is very easy to want to automate everything in your home! The future seems very much focused on devices which are WiFi-enabled for you to control from your smartphone, so if you want to head start on this trend, it makes sense that you get started now.

Smart Home Security

There are plenty of different ways that technology can help you to live a safer and more secure home life. Instead of using keys to open your front door, you could look into a smart lock system which allows you to unlock your front door using your smartphone. You can also get alerts sent directly to your phone when it comes to monitoring any activity which is going on around your home. Another tech-based solution which you could look into is installing a WiFi video doorbell which allows you to see and speak with visitors to your home no matter where you are. This is an excellent security feature which offers you some much-needed peace of mind.

Home Entertainment

So far, we have only talked about the practical capabilities of technology in the home, but we have not yet touched on entertainment. You will have no doubt seen the various home entertainment systems out there such as Google Home, Amazone Echo etc which allow you to connect with your music, make internet searches, play audiobooks etc. And these are also becoming more interconnected with other aspects of home entertainment such as your TV, stereo systems etc.

Cleaning the House

The dream of a self-cleaning home is one which has been held by homeowners for decades. It seems like there will be more and more robotic help in this area as we move into the future, but as for the devices which you can invest in today, there are plenty of smart vacuum cleaners out there such as the Roomba. The most advanced of these devices allow you to schedule home cleans as you would like, as well as spot cleaning and much more.

A Self-Gardening Garden

Turning our attention to the outdoors, there are various devices out there which can help you out when it comes to doing the gardening. A smart watering system will take away the hassle of filling up a watering can and lugging it around the different plants in the garden, and will also help to ensure that you don’t forget. Not only this, but it has also been estimated that smart water will save you as much as 50% of your outdoor water usage.

Home automation provides advantages in a wide range of different areas and is certainly something which is worth looking into for every homeowner. Not only does it provide you with maximum control when you are in your house, but it also allows for management outside of your property. You can control the lights and heating, look up who is coming to visit, and start cleaning your house at the touch of a button.